Method of making shoes



Oct. 5 1926. 1,601,765

F. G. OWEN METHOD OF MAKING SHOES Filed Dec. 14, 1921 Patented Oct. 5, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

REDERIOK G. OWEN, OF LEI'cEsTER, ENGLAND, Ass'IGNo'R To UNITED SHOE MA- CHINERY CORPORATION, or rATERsoN, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

METHOD OF MAKING SHOES.

Application filed December 14. 1921, Serial NO.

' This invention relates to methods of making shoes and is herein shown by way of example as applied to the manufacture of shoes having a single sole.

The present invention is herein exemplified particularly with reference to its application to the making'of shoes of the type disclosed in United States Letters Patent No.

' 1,215,304, granted February 6, 1917, on application of Arthur Bates, although the invention in various aspects is not so limited. By the method provided in this patent the heel-seat portion of the sole has a flap gouged out of its upper face, leaving the marginal portion of said face unaffected. The inturned flange of the molded upper is tucked under the flap, the flap, upper and sole being afterward secured together. An object of this invention is still further to facilitate satisfactory disposition of the inturned flange of a molded upper under a flap cut from tne sole. In this aspect the invention aims to ensure uniformity of the flaps in thickness and shape, uniformity of the width of the marginal sole portions outside of the flap, and definite height and shape of the abrupt shoulder left by the flap and against which the upper is seated.

In the practice of the present invention the heel-seat portion of a sole is given the shape it is to have in the finishedshoe and while using the edge face of the sole as -a guide a suitably formed channelling knife is passed progressively about the outer periphery of the inner face of the sole from breast line to breast line, the knife being shaped to form a channel entering the sole face substantially perpendicular thereto and then curving to a direction parallel to the sole face at the proper depth to provide a substantial thickness of material between the face of the sole and the portion of the channel parallel to it. The substance bounded by the channel cut is separated from the remainderof the sole ex cept at the breast line by extending the channel out inwardly in the same direction to form a flap beneath which the inturned margin of the molded upper may be disposed and seated in the recess formed by removal of the flap.

In the drawings?- Fig. 1 is a plan view of the rear end of 522,279, and in Great: Britain January 6, 1921.

the sole after the channel forming step of the method has been performed upon it;

Fig. 2 is a detail showing the operation of performing thestep shown in Fig. 1.;

Flg. 3 is a sectional detail illustrating the displacement of the marginal portion of the sole preparatory to the separating of the flap from the body of the sole;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of illustrative apparatus for carrying out a modification of the method;

Fig. 5 is an edge View of the knife shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of a sole after treatment by the apparatus shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 7 is'a side view of Fig. 6; and

Fig. 8 is a sectional View on the line 8-8 of Fig. 6.

In'carrying out the method of the present invention in one way in which it has been successfully practiced a sole 2 (Fig. 1) is prepared having the contour about the heelseatwhich it is'to have in the finished shoe. 7!! A channel knife 4 having theshape shown in Fig. 2 is plunged into the upper or inner face of the sole at the point 6, the sole being located by engagement of its edge face with an edge gage 8 by which the width of the margin 10, which is unaffected by the channelling knife, is determined. The channelling operation is progressively carried on about the periphery of the sole by movement of a feed wheel 12, free movement of the sole in the direction of feed being permitted by a rotary sole rest 14, and ends at the breast line on the opposite side of the sole. The channelling knife 4 is shaped to cause 1 the cut to enter the sole in a direction substantially perpendicular to its upper face and then to extend downwardly and in wardly in a curve the inner portion of the iutbeing substantially parallel with the sole ace.

The margin 10 is displaced relatively to the plane of the sole bottom, the flexu're occur ing chiefly at the inner line of the portion of the channel which is parallel to the plane of the sole face as shown in Fig. 3, and the substance within the area defined by the channel rearwardly of the breast line is separated from the body ina plane continuous with the end portionof the channel cut-made on the upper or flap portion of the sole. This operation may readily be effected by providing a convex support 16 upon which the sole is held by a clamp 18 and displacing the margin 10 of the sole downwardly by pressure of a U-shaped pressure member 20 until the inner horizontal portion of the channel cut is exposed to the action of a straightedged knife between which and the sole relative movement is effected to sever the flap from the body of the sole in a plane parallel to the sole bottom along the dotted line 22 and extending forwardly of the sole to the breast line. Tn this manner a flap of predetermined size, thickness and shape is severed from the sole except at the breast line and conversely a recess is formed in the sole which has a predetermined contour corresponding to that of the sole edge and a side wall of definite shape and height against which the molded upper will be seated when the flap is restored to as near its original position as the upper interposed between it and the sole will permit. 2

In another manner of practicing the invention the flap is formed in a single opera tion as illustrated in Figs. 4: and 8. In this instance a channel knife constructed as shown in Figs. 4-. and 5 is provided. The knife has a shank portion 26 by which it is held in fixed position. The cutting edge at 28 is offset from the shank portion an amount equal to the thickness of the flap to be cut and extends in a curve downwardly and inwardly to meet a horizontal straight cutting edge 30, 32. The knife also has an end cutting edge 32, 34 which, at the begin ning end 32, makes a little more than a right angle with the edge 30, 32 and then recedes from the direction of the line of feed toward the corner 34. The knife therefore has two bevels from a junction ridge 36, one bevel toward the edge 30, 32 and the other bevel toward the edge 32, 34. A flat work table 38 is provided upon which the sole is presented with its edge face against an edge guide etO. A work retainer 42 is arranged to engage the upper face of the work located upon the table and a feed foot la is provided to advance the work in the direction of the line of feed, that is, toward the left in Fig. l.

The sole is presented on the table 38 with its edge against the edge guide 40 with the median line of the sole at such an inclination to the line of feed that the guide acts as an abutment against movement of the sole bodily in the direction of the line of feed. The sole is then swung about its point of contact with the guide so that the corner 32 of the knife strikes the edge of the sole at 46 (Fig. 7 about midway of its thickness, and continued swinging of the sole clockwise, together with a slight movement of the sole along the line of feed, brings the knife gradually into the sole until the sole reaches the usual feedin position where the edge of the knife is perpendicular to the longitudinal median line of the sole and substantially at the breast line of the sole. During this movement the corner 32 enters the sole along a line l6, 50 (Fig. 6) and the offset curved portion 28 along the line 52, 54. The curved oiiset portion 28now emerges from the sole face at a distance from the edge of the sole determined bythe setting of the edge guide it). The edge 30, 32 of the knife is long enough to extend somewhat beyond the median line of the sole so that as the progressive channelling operation is carried on about the periphery of the heel-seat the substance within the area de fined by the path of the portion 28 of the knife will be severed from the body of the sole to form a flap 56.

The feed foot ist which extends at least as far as the edge 30, 32 of the knife and the form given to the edge 32, 3% of the knife which extends in the direction of the line of the feed, avoid any tendency for the sole to be lifted from the support or to be out too deeply and the curved portion 28 of the knife gives a definitely curved margin to thellap and to the corresponding recess in the sole so that a definite shoulder or seat 29 for the upper is formed in the sole.

The wall 29 of the recess formed in the sole in either of the ways described is of unvarying depth, sharply defined, prefeably comparatively abrupt, and at the precise distance desired from the edge of the sole all around the heel end. Its formation is also independent of the sole thickness, compressibility of the leather and other characteristics which militate against the formation of the flange in other ways. The flap having been formed in either of the ways described, an upper having a heel portion including a counter molded with an inturned flange may with readiness and certainty be located with its inturned flange beneath the flap and then easily held with the line of junction beween the flange and molded sides of the upper in just the proper relation to the edge contour of the sole. The upper and sole thus brought together may be secured together temporarily or permanently in any desired manner or the upper and sole may be placed on the last without any previous fastening, the interengagement of the molded flange with the recess and flap serving to hold the parts in assembled relation. The attachment of the upper to the forepart and shank of the sole may be performed by the use of the machine described in United States Letters Patent No. 1,198,405, granted September 19, 1916, on an application of Arthur Bates, in which case the stitching which secures the upper to the sole at the shank will securely unite that sec-tion of the edge of the sole which has been split if the form of channel knife shown in Figs. l and PS has been employed. If the upper, flap and body of the sole at the heel end have not been finally united this may be effected conv'eniently, as disclosed in Patent No. 1,215,804: above mentioned, simultaneously with the attachment of a heel.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists in forming a channel at a uniform distance from the .peripheral edge about the heel-seat of a sole, said channel extending from the seat face of the sole at an angle directed inwardly with respect to the plane of the heel-seat, then extending the bottom of the channel transversely of the sole to form a flap, locating the inturned flange of a molded upper beneath the flap, and connecting the flap, flange and sole together.

2. That improvement in methods of makmg shoes which consists in progressively formingby a single cut a channel in the heel-seat surface of a sole from the breast line on one side to the breast line on the other side at a uniform distance from its marginal edge, transversely extending the channel at its bottom to separate the substance within the area bounded by the chan- V termined area smaller than the area of the heel portion of the sole, the edge of the flap being uniformly spaced from the periphery of the sole and thevfiap being of Substantially uniform thickness, tucking the flange of the molded upper under the flap, and securing the flap, upper and sole together.

5. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists in providing a sole having a rear part of the final contour it is to have in the finished shoe, channelling the sole beginning at the breast line by a cut commencing perpendicular to the sole at a predetermineddistance from its edge face and extending downwardly and inwardly until it becomes parallel to the sole bottom, extending said channel about the periphery the sole from breast line to breast line, depressing the margin'of the sole relatively to the central portion to afford access to the channel, and separating the substance bounded by the channel from the body of the sole to form a flap of substantially uniform thickness connected to the sole only at the breast line. 7

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

FREDERICK G. OWEN. 

